CONTACT
Sara Hall
SETDA Deputy Executive Director
[email protected]
410-279-3368

Renowned Education Researcher, Robert Marzano, Touts the Potential of Technology to Magnify Good Teaching Practices, Student Engagement and Teacher Creativity

November 3, 2009 (Washington, DC) – At the State Educational Technology Directors Association’s (SETDA) Education Forum, Dr. Robert Marzano spoke about his recent research around the effectiveness of using Interactive Whiteboards in improving instruction.

Dr. Marzano commented, “I would have been a much better teacher if I had these technology tools in my middle school classroom.” He said, “Good instruction can happen without it, but technology is a catalyst for good teaching practices such as individualizing instruction for all students, collaborative team work, engaging students with quality content, and providing teachers with data to make informed decisions about improving their instruction.”

Marzano warned that technology is not a silver bullet and that teacher training to addresses quality integration is essential in seeing gains in student achievement.

The Report
In March 2009, Marzano Research published the first phase of a multi-year study documenting the effects of classrooms with IWBs, learning response systems, and teacher professional development on student achievement.  Marzano’s study shows a real change in student learning with a percentile gain of 17 percent. The meta-analytic findings suggest fairly large percentile gains in student achievement under the following conditions:

• Teacher has 10 years or more of teaching experience

• Teacher has used the technology for two years or more

• Teacher uses the technology between 75 and 80 percent of the time in his or her classroom

• Teacher has high confidence in his or her ability to use the technology

For more information about this report and other research, visit http://www.marzanoresearch.com/research/actionresearch_reports.aspx.

“This research highlights what SETDA members believe to be critical issue in building a strong, innovative workforce for the 21st Century, said Mary Ann Wolf, SETDA Executive Director. Wolf continued, “Technology is a catalyst for improving instructional practices and provides the tools teachers need to be creative, individualize instruction, and use data to improve their practices.”

About SETDA
The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is the principal association representing the state directors for education technology. SETDA works to promote national leadership in education technology; provide professional development to members; in an effort to build partnerships that provide leadership to advance learning opportunities. SETDA’s membership includes educational technology directors from the state departments of education of all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Bureau of Indian Affairs, American Samoa and the US Virgin Islands. https://www.setda.org